One of the most useful and widely used mnemonics (or memory aids) is the memory palace, a place or series of places in your mind where you can store information that you need to remember. With time and practice, anyone can build a memory palace, and they are useful for far more than just memory competitions and trivia.

Steps

Creating Your Own Memory Palace

1

Decide on a blueprint for your palace. While a memory palace can be a purely imagined place, it is easier to base it upon a place that exists in the real world and that you are familiar with or you can use some places of your favorite video game. A basic palace could be your bedroom, for example. Larger memory palaces can be based on your house, a cathedral, a walk to the corner store, or your town. The larger or more detailed the real place, the more information you can store in the corresponding mental space.

2

Define a route. If you will need to remember things in a certain order, it is essential that you follow a specific route through your palace, both in the real world and in your mind. Thus, once you’ve decided what your memory palace is, decide how you will travel through it. If you don’t really need to remember things in order, this step is unnecessary, but still useful, as it makes memorizing your palace easier.

3

Identify specific storage locations in your palace or along your route. When you use your memory palace you will put individual things to be remembered (a number, a name, or a part of a speech that you will be giving, for example), in specific locations. Thus, you need to identify as many locations as you think you will need. Walk through your structure or along your route and really observe it. If your palace is actually a route, such as your drive to work, the storage locations can be landmarks along the way: your neighbor’s house, a crossroads, a statue, or a skyscraper, for example. If the palace is a structure, you can put things in the different rooms. Within rooms, you can identify smaller locations, such as paintings, pieces of furniture, and so on. The key is to make sure the locations you choose are distinct from each other so that no location can be mistaken for another.

4

Memorize your memory palace. For your memory palace to be effective, you need to commit it to memory perfectly. The best way to do this is to actually draw out a blueprint (or a map, if the palace is a route) which shows the landmarks or storage locations you have chosen. Try visualizing the palace when you are not there, and then check your mental image against the map to make sure you have remembered every location and put them in the correct order. Picture the landmarks in as much detail as possible: make sure your mental image includes their colors, sizes, smells, and any other defining characteristics.

5

Place things to be remembered in your palace. Once you have constructed your palace and have it firmly implanted in your mind, you are ready to use it. Put a manageable amount of information in each place. For example, if your palace is your house, and you are trying to remember a speech, you might place the first few sentences on your doormat and the next few in the keyhole of your door. Don’t put too much information in any one place, and if certain things must be kept separate from others, put them in different places. Make sure that you place things along your route in the order in which you need to remember them, if applicable.If you are a beginner, it is not a wise to pick up same kind of objects from different places of your mind palace to put different informations as it may confuse you.

6

Use symbols. You don’t necessarily need to put a whole string of words or numbers in a given location in order to be able to remember it, and trying to do so can be unwieldy and counterproductive. Generally, all you need to store in each location is something that will jog your memory, something that will lead you to the actual idea you’re trying to remember. Thus, if you are trying to remember a ship, picture an anchor on your couch. If the ship is the U.S.S. Wisconsin, picture the anchor made out of cheese. Symbols are shorthand and make memories more manageable, but they also can be more effective than picturing the actual thing you are trying to remember.

7

Be creative. The images you put in your palace should, obviously, be as memorable as possible. Generally, images will be more memorable if they are absurd (out of the ordinary) [see warnings] , or if they are attached to some strong emotion or personal experience. The number 124 is not particularly memorable, but an image of a spear shaped like the number 1, going through a swan (which looks like the number 2), and splitting the swan into 4 pieces is. Yes, it’s disturbing, but that’s part of what makes it stick in your mind.

8

Stock your palace with other mnemonics. There are many simpler mnemonics that you can use in combination with the memory palace. As an example, suppose you need to remember a great deal about music composition. As you enter your kitchen, you could see a little boy eating a piece of chocolate fudge, which would evoke the first-letter mnemonic “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge," which would in turn allow you to recall the order of notes on the lines in treble clef (EGBDF).

9

Explore your palace. Once you have stocked your palace with evocative images, you need to go through it and look at them. The more you explore your palace, the more easily you will recall its contents on demand. In your mind you want to see James Joyce, for example, sitting on your toilet as if he belonged there and was really an integral part of your bathroom décor.

10

Use your palace. Once you have memorized the contents of your palace you can recall them simply by mentally walking through it or looking around it. If you need to give a speech, just follow your route in order as you do so. If you need to remember that your girlfriend’s birthday is March 16, simply go into your bedroom and see the soldiers “marching" on the bed to the tune of the 80s cult classic “Sixteen Candles." With practice you will be able to start anywhere in your palace or along your route to recall a specific piece of information.

11

Build new palaces. A memory palace can be reused over and over again if you need only commit things to memory for a short time. Just replace the existing contents with new ones, and you’ll soon remember only the new ones. If you need to remember the contents of your palace for a long time, you can keep that palace as it is and create new ones in which to store other information as needed. If your house contains the phone numbers of everyone you know, you can walk to your workplace if you need to remember the order of a deck of cards.

Community Q&A

Can I have multiple mind palaces that have a few similar items in them?

wikiHow Contributor

Community Answer

Of course, your mind palace is designed and created by you, so you decide what to put in it. Just be careful if you decide to put similar items in different mind palaces, because you might get confused or mixed up.

Of course. Find a way that the information can be visualised or imagined and then apply it. You can use this trick for memorising equations and formulas for your exams; then turn them into something you find amusing and memorable whilst linked to the information. After giving it a location, you can remember it. Also, if you give your memory palace some interesting items or things that make you laugh, this can help if the lesson if it is a little boring!

Don't memorise every word; instead, memorise the key points. Then walk around your memory palace in the specific order of the things in your speech, so that you go through front door and see the first thing, etc.

What if I need to memorize an essay about World War I, do I need to memorize it word by word and then put, for example, the first phrase in the painting of the hall of my apartment (considering that my apartment is my memory palace)?

Joost Blok

Community Answer

Let us say you have to learn a year: 1926 and an important event corresponding with that year. What I would do is create an object that makes you remember that specific historic item. I usually create something that is so different that it instantly makes me remember. For example, a modern room, entirely white, with a black piece of obsidian on the table will instantly make you remember what that was.

Video.

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This video will show you some basic essential tips to create your own Mind Palace.

Quick Summary

To build a memory palace, decide on a blueprint for your palace using a real location, like your bedroom, to help you memorize the space easily. Next, identify specific storage locations like paintings, pieces of furniture, and other objects where you can "store" information. Commit your palace to memory by visualizing it or drawing it on paper, then place information you want to remember in your palace. Symbols and mnemonic devices can help you store and remember information more easily!

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Tips

At the World Memory Championships, top competitors memorize the order of 20 shuffled decks of cards in an hour and more than 500 random digits in 15 minutes, among other events. Think you have what it takes? Believe it or not, almost everybody has the capability to perform such amazing feats. Competitive people who memorize don’t necessarily have “better memories" than the rest of us; instead, they learn and perfect a variety of mnemonics (memory aids) to improve their ability to quickly learn and recall just about anything.

Be persistent. The memory palace is a very powerful tool, but it is not necessarily easy to master. If you’re looking for a quick fix to help you keep track of things, get a pen and paper, but if you really want to improve your ability to memorize things, take the time to learn and practice this method.

There are a number of books and memory-enhancement products available to help you learn how to build a memory palace. They can be costly, however, and not all are effective for all people. Practice the steps above, and you may save yourself some money.

Also, keep in mind that the modern age of computers brings many easy ways to build your own virtual palaces or simply choose from many of the other creations already online and take a virtual tour of them whenever you like. The impact is somewhat stronger than a drawing which makes the imprint into your mind quite effortless.

You can use objects that have pronunciation of letters in the beginning that are the same as the word you are trying to memorize. This method will be useful for the words which are new for you. A dictionary can help you in this case.

There are many variations of the memory palace, such as the Roman Room and the Journey. They are all based on the Method of Loci, which sprang from the recognition that people are very good at remembering locations, and if you can associate abstract or unfamiliar ideas with a well-known location, you can more easily recall the things you want to.

You will need to prepare each new memory palace as you did the first, so you may want to develop new ones before you need them.

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 2,104,457 times.

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HL

H. L.

Jul 21

"Thank you for sharing your knowledge to everyone."

AY

A. Y. A.

Jun 10

"I love the way you put important details and steps in a simplistic way. Thanks."

JS

Jamie Selby

Apr 23

"I was chatting with my ten-year-old daughter after her music lesson about how using a mind/memory palace could help her to file all her songs that she is learning. This wikiHow was just what I was looking for to show her simply how to do it. Thanks."..." more

HS

Huseyin Sencar

Jul 23, 2016

"These ideas are really awesome! I want to build a real house of my own, so I think it can also be my mind palace with some additions (maybe secret rooms from stories I love or a garage I always want to have). I am gonna use a 3D program to make it visual for now. "..." more

TB

T. B.

Jul 13, 2017

"I saw this (mind palace) in the TV show "Sherlock" and wanted to give it a try. Once beginning to construct my mind palace, I started remembering things in detail that I hadn't before, very interesting and useful!"..." more

Rated this article:

GT

George Thomas

Jun 23, 2016

"I have tried in the past to memorize stuff, articles, etc., and my mind seems to play tricks all the time. With this 'memory palace,' I hope to be able to visualize key points to trigger memories."..." more

BL

Brian Lamptey

Aug 25, 2017

"I have trouble deciding when memories resurface, they play like TV and interrupt my daily activities. This is a way to organize them and access them whenever I want."..." more

Rated this article:

JL

Jenny Lucero

Oct 11, 2017

"This is really a good way to help me memorize things, even if at first it is really hard to do it. I'm going to rebuild a palace again! I appreciate it!"..." more

RK

Rahul Keshri

May 28, 2017

"I can use this to pass in my exams. Didn't know the "using a place that you already know" technique. It makes it a whole lot easier."..." more

Rated this article:

BC

Betsy Curlin

Jun 20, 2016

"I'm having short term memory problems, but I think several of the techniques presented here will help. Thanks for the information!"..." more

TT

Tony Tse

Aug 1, 2017

"A memory palace is really helpful. I thought I would never make it happen in my mind, but it worked easily. It is recommended."..." more

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SK

Sachidanand Kant

Feb 1

"All the steps, including tips, are very helpful. They are more beneficial than some of the ebooks I have read."

IA

Islam Algenied

May 31, 2016

"This technique helps me a lot when memorizing new words I learned in my english language program."

LN

Loganathan Natarajan

Jun 16, 2016

"Nice one. I've read about it casually. The illustration is simple and easy to follow."

Sai Somanath Komanduri

May 31, 2017

"I am trying to create a kind palace of my own and this seems to be a good start."

Rated this article:

TM

T. Meagher

Oct 13, 2016

"This was a really well-written article and was great help for my poor memory!"